The next day Mary woke up as soon as the sun came up, mind too full of ideas to settle down again. Soon she was making boards, and then a chest. She had intended to make one or two of these much sooner, but the wall project had distracted her, and then Ib showed up… well, she was certainly happy to get it done now.

Soon the chest was finished, and she stored the things she didn’t need with her inside. That meant they could carry more back when they went out too! Mary hummed happily from a job well done, but her merriment was cut short by the jarring sound of ripping paper. She jolted in alarm, spinning to see what made the noise. The others woke up as well, but they couldn’t see where the noise came from- all they did see was a gift-wrapped box sitting in the shady back of their camp, where no one could possibly have put it without being seen.

Despite looking around inside and out of their camp, there was no sign of anything that could have brought it in. Madotsuki wouldn’t let go of her knife, worried whatever sneaky entity was behind this might strike while they were confused and disoriented. No attack seemed forthcoming, but for safety they stayed in the camp that morning, the dreamer standing watch while Ib and Mary examined the box. Mary eventually worked up the courage to pick up the box; nothing bad happened.

She shook it a little. There was certainly something inside, nothing heavy or clunky. “Maybe… we should open it?”

The second she said ‘open’, the box shook and she dropped it; the wrapping formed into a black hand, grabbing the edge of the box and ripping it open to reveal... a pair of gloves. The hand melted into a shadow covering the whole box, making it melt into the shade around them and leaving the gloves behind. They all stared for a moment, stunned speechless.

Ib picked them up, about to try them, but Mary grabbed her arm in alarm. “Don’t!”

Ib stared at her, then Madotsuki, giving a smile. “I know you’re both worried. But what else should we do with them? It doesn’t feel like a trap to me. And I can be healed anyway, right?” Before the others could protest, she put them on. Despite their worry, Ib’s hands weren’t eaten by monster gloves or anything of the like. It just seemed to be perfectly normal gloves. “They’re warm.”

The other two sigh in relief, and Madotsuki sits down by the firepit. “So… the shadows gave us a gift?”

“Seems so.” Ib said. “But why?”

Mary sits too, coming to an idea. “Maybe it isn’t the same things that attacked us? Maybe there’s something good in there too?”

Madotsuki nods. “I suppose there must be. There are strange forces at work, that is for sure. We never get tired here. Monsters leave behind items but no corpses. It is all… magical, really.”

Ib thought about it for a moment. “And we all just woke up here, right? I remember seeing this man when I woke up… he seemed… evil.”

The dreamer frowns. “I didn’t see anyone, but I thought I heard a man’s voice.”

“I did too!” Mary chimes in. “I went looking for it at first, but then I gave up and started collecting things.”

“So he somehow appeared to all of us, but he’s nowhere to be found.” Madotsuki looked into the pit’s ashes in thought. “He may be the one responsible for us coming here. Even if he is not, finding him still seems worth doing to me.”

Ib nods. “Do you think if we find him, we could get out of here?”

Out. That was something Madotsuki hadn’t thought of. Murderous shadows and creatures aside, she hadn’t found much to dislike. Mary’s frown showed she was much of the same opinion. But as for Ib… “Perhaps. We will have to find him before we know.”

They were silent for a moment, lost in thought, before Mary suddenly smiled. “Oh! I forgot, I made a fishing rod!” She pulls it out for her friends to see. “Can we go fishing?”

Madotsuki smiles a bit, relieved to be back on normal topics. “I suppose. Is that fine with you, Ib?”

“Sure.”

The dreamer gets up. “Alright then, follow me and we will get there soon.”
                                                     

The Batter hadn’t found much of a lead on his possible ally, but he had spotted something that seemed worth investigating- what looked like a massive dark tower, hard to make out, west of his entrance. It was as good a landmark as any, so off he went. Along the way, he was sidetracked when he found a large pointed stalagmite with a hole in it, webs covering it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was full of spiders, but the webbing along the ground to warn them of intruders made it even more obvious.

Though he was very tempted to slay the monsters, he wasn’t going to start a fight he couldn’t win- not because he thought the spiders were too strong, but it was simply a matter of him not being able to destroy their rocky nest with his bat. Still, he had an inkling about what he needed to do to break it; sticks and rocks to make a proper tool. He had sticks, he just needed rocks and this cavern was full of them, no doubt. He would come back here later.

By the time he found the spider den, he was a bit closer and was aware that the ‘tower’ he saw couldn’t possibly be something constructed; it was moving and wiggling, though still hard to make out. No doubt something that big would be hard to take down, but he had no excuses not to, unlike the spiders, and he doubted it could actually take a swing at him due to his immense size. That didn’t mean it was harmless, but he wouldn’t know what it could do until he took a swing at it.

As he got closer still, he could finally make it out- a massive tentacle, so big that its tip could not be seen. Perhaps it extended all the way to the surface. Whatever the case, it was an abomination and the Batter needed to eliminate it. He charged at the tentacle and swung, making a loud rumble as the titanic appendage shook in pain. As it did, small bits of itself fell and hit the ground. Taking that as a sign of damage, the Batter swung again, knocking more down- but now the first bits started to sprout up like weeds, making smaller tentacles that lashed out at the Batter.

He started to swing at them instead, and these smaller, weaker ones fell in a single blow- but there were just too many, lashing and striking him in all directions, so thick and clustered he couldn’t squeeze out of the tangle of tentacles he inadvertently trapped himself in. There were too many to fight, and he could not run- but he felt no fear at his impending death. He would keep fighting until his last-

A loud boom cut off his thoughts as he was flung backwards by an explosion, sending him sprawling away from the tentacles and free of their lashes. The smaller ones had died, but it seemed more were made from the explosion’s force than were slain. There was simply no chance of slaying that behemoth, and he was far too hurt now to try.

More importantly, where had that explosion come from? He looked around, getting to his feet, and he soon spotted his savior- a small boy, he thought, with an inscrutable expression wearing a blue shirt and pants with purple stripes along them. It seemed he had found his ally after all. The boy gestured for him to follow, pulling out a lantern to illumine their path.

“Don’t fight those.” The boy- actually, on hearing their voice, the Batter was no longer sure of their gender- only said that before starting to walk away. The Batter had no choice but to follow them through this cavern and hope they were going somewhere where he could recover.